SARS vaccine will be hard to find: expert

Developing an effective vaccine for the killer disease severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) will be extremely difficult because the virus keeps mutating into new forms, a Hong Kong expert says.

Arthur Van Langerberg, a virologist at Canossa hospital in Hong Kong, one of the cities worst hit by the outbreak, told the La Repubblica daily that even if researchers found a vaccine in the next six months, it was unlikely to be effective since the virus would probably have mutated in the meantime.

"We must be aware that we're going to have trouble getting rid of SARS," the Italian paper quoted him as saying.

SARS, which scientists have confirmed to be a mutant form of the coronavirus, the cause of the common cold, has claimed more than 200 lives so far and infected a further 4,500 people worldwide.

"Because corona viruses are so adaptable, it will be difficult to develop an effective vaccine for this disease," the newspaper quoted him as saying.

Mr Van Langerberg said that there was a very real risk of SARS spreading across Europe next winter - the season when people most frequently suffer from common colds - and called on Europe to be vigilant.

He also said that as a physician he was afraid of SARS because it was highly contagious.